


Things You Must Do To Make Me Happy

by JustLikeInMyDream



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, One Shot Collection, Politics, Romance, happiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustLikeInMyDream/pseuds/JustLikeInMyDream
Summary: There are two things in life all of us know: the things that make us happy, and the things that make our friends and family happy. Some are easy, and some are more difficult to accomplish, but these things are wished for out of the deep love and friendship these characters hold for one another.This is a work compiled of one-shots which, in no particular order, reveal the things that make some of our favorite characters happy. We begin with Josh and Donna.
Relationships: Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Will Bailey/Kate Harper, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Things You Must Do To Make Me Happy

**Pairing: Josh/Donna**  
**Timeline: Bartlet Admin. Year 2  
** **Word Count: 901**

**Wake Up**

" _Donna … Josh was hit."_

"… _Hit with what?"_

…

_"He was shot — in the chest."_

" _He's in surgery right now."_

No.

No.

No. This wasn't happening. Toby wouldn't joke about something like this. He's cynical and sarcastic, but not like this — not when the President has been shot and bot when they can't find the one who signaled the shooters.

Sam shifted in his chair and dropped his head into his hand. CJ wouldn't look her in the eyes. Toby cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I don't understand … I don't understand. Is — is it serious?"

"Yes, it's critical. The bullet collapsed his lung and damaged a major artery."

Oh god, _he was shot_.

She felt like she was going to collapse. She felt her jaw drop and her stomach heave. She clasped a hand over her mouth and shook all over. Someone on the hospital staff was speaking to them, explaining something, but she couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything other than the pounding of her heart and the roar of the blood in her ears. She held back the immediate tears, somehow, and sunk into the chair in front of her.

CJ reached over and rubbed her back slowly, while Charlie squeezed her hand and offered a reassuring smile, but they both left to do the things they were paid to do. It was Sam's turn to console her, but nothing worked. Her limbs felt heavy and her stomach flip-flopped with the very nauseating thought of Josh not making it through the surgery.

For hours, she sat in the private waiting room, staring at the same spot on the floor, wringing her hands, swallowing thickly, blinking slowly.

For hours, she sat in that uncomfortable blue hospital chair, waiting, waiting, waiting … to hear what the doctor would say.

A twelve hour surgery wasn't supposed to be easy, not on the doctor, not on the patient, not on the nurses, but in reality, it was probably hardest on the people waiting in the private room down the hall and to the left. Especially the one with the long blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and the big blue eyes that didn't shine.

Mrs. Landingham sat with Donna and held her hand tightly, not planning on letting go until they heard about Josh. She knew and understood how much the blonde cared for the man with the dimples in the operating room. It was always obvious that she and Josh had a relationship that defied no other. They bickered and flirted and argued and laughed like an old married couple. Whatever he needed, she had it. Whether it was a report on Russian oil refineries or an ear to rant to, she could be it.

Leo was given the hard task of telling the president that Josh had been hit too. Abbey didn't like the fact that he had to be told _right_ _after_ a major surgery, because having a coronary isn't a preferred reaction, but she understood the necessity. He immediately wanted to see him, even though Josh was still in his marathon surgery. They all, reluctantly, let him go with Leo to the OR.

The operating room was separated from the public by two sets of two solid doors. The space was dim but the painfully bright light from the OR flooded into the hallway. Donna stood in front of the windows, arms crossed, fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sweater. The doctors and nurses were working hard on the unconscious Josh attempting to put him back to normal — to put _her_ Josh back to normal.

While standing in front of the operating room, Donna thought about their past. She reminisced on the first day she met Josh, how he gave her the chance she needed along with the famed Bartlet for America pass. She still had it to this day, hanging proudly in her apartment.

Suddenly, she felt an arm around her shoulders. Jumping slightly, she turned to see a solemn Leo with deep circles under his eyes and the President, dressed in his robe, holding onto the IV pole like it was the only thing holding him up.

"He's going to be fine, kid."

She swallowed and nodded, silently hoping he was right.

"He's stronger than you think."

"I know he's strong," she took a deep breath. "I think he's going to pull through, but I don't know if —" her breath caught — "I don't know how different he's going to be."

"He's still gonna be the Josh you love, Donna." The President may still be slightly sedated, but he knew his staff.

Leo was right — Josh got out of surgery without issue. Leo and the President were there when he woke up, and when Leo told her what Josh had said, she laughed for the first time all night.

"What's next," Donna whispered as she sat diligently next to Josh's hospital bed while he slept off the anesthesia. She tentatively reached out to hold his hand. He sighed in his sleep and she squeezed his hand lightly. "C'mon Josh, wake up … please. There's a lot of people out there who need you … but I think I need you the most." She laid her head next to their hands and sighed. "Wake up…"

"Donna …"

Her eyes flew up to his face and she smiled when saw her favorite brown eyes.

"Welcome back. Don't ever scare me like that again."


End file.
